I'm an intelligent big cat. My pelt has leopardy rosettes but I'm big as a tiger, and way more socially tolerant than either leopard or tiger. I live in a city! True, I live alone--a ground-level flat on a big cobbled quad (quiet, but not enough trees). My neighbors tolerate me (so far), but none are really friends. Still... I've come a long way from hunting alone in the woods.

I long for a mate. But I don't know where to hunt, where even to start. Human or cat, city or wood?

One day I find my door ajar and a small boy wandering around my room. I'd normally ignore him. Why not? Don't want to eat him, play with him, or fuck him. What else are moving things good for?

But today I'm tired of longing for a girl and suddenly intuition says "Pay attention to those around you." So I mentally stalk him, observing him closely for a few minutes. Before I even ask him the obvious question, I know some things: he's not a burglar and he's not lost. He was abandoned.

He confirms it. "I don't know if my parents are alive or dead; they went out yesterday and just never came back."

I say, to my surprise, "You can stay here. We can ask the neighbors if they know anything."

This feels right. Suddenly I have an adopted human cub.

And then a girl appears. Small, dark-haired, cute, with a serious look in her eyes. I'm a poor judge of human ages, and she's particularly hard to guess. Much older than him, anyway, though not adult, I think. Teens?

I'm certain that taking responsibility for the boy led to a response from the universe; my prayers for a girlfriend were almost instantly answered.

I'm not adopting her as a daughter! I decide to charge the issue head-on: I say "Tigers don't know much about raising small boys, and I have responsibility for this one. Will you be my mate and help me?"

And she says "Yes."

Long sexy dream of snuggling up to her, learning what she likes and fears. I think this society is like ancient Rome; women and slaves have few rights. So she's slow to speak up; I need to be sure to listen closely.

But she likes me and I like her. In spite of our differences, I think we'll work it out.